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Home Face Young Lions In Season Opener

Home United, who finished fourth last year, will entertain Garena Young Lions in their 2017 Great Eastern-Hyundai S.League season opener at the Bishan Stadium on Monday evening.

The Protectors will be looking to bounce back after a narrow 1-0 defeat to Yadanarbon FC in their AFC Cup Group H opener last Wednesday.

In his first full season in charge of Home, head coach Aidil Sharin has made a number of astute signings as he seeks to assemble a squad capable of challenging on all fronts.

The biggest name of all is goalkeeper Hassan Sunny who will ply his trade for the Bishan-based side after spending the past two years in Thailand with Army United.

In addition, they have captured Singapore internationals Izzdin Shafiq and Afiq Yunos while swooping for Adam Swandi and Christopher van Huizen, both of whom were on the Young Lions’ rosters last season.

The six-time Singapore Cup winners have managed to retain the core of their team which includes 2016 S.League Young Player of the Year nominee Song Ui-young, defender Abdil Qaiyyim and marauding full-back Juma’at Jantan.

In the attacking department, Stipe Plazibat has been brought in from rivals Hougang United to replace top-scorer Ken Ilso who has since left for Kedah FA.

On the other hand, Young Lions will be a fully Under-22 side this season as they gear up for August’s Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur.

As a result, seasoned campaigners like Khairul Amri, Firdaus Kasman and Fareez Farhan have left the club. Shahrin Saberin, formerly of Home, and Amirul Adli are therefore expected to step up and mentor the younger players in the squad.

Assistant to former Young Lions head coach Patrick Hesse last year, V. Selvaraj will be the man tasked to lead the developmental side in 2017.

It will be a baptism of fire for most of these players in the squad and Selvaraj hopes to see them learn from this experience.

“Playing in a professional league, I want the boys to grow,” the former Warriors FC coach added. “The average age of the squad is even younger this year after we released a few senior players like Khairul Amri, Firdaus Kasman and Christopher van Huizen, so they need to mature and make fewer mistakes on the pitch.”